Instant analysis of Patriots' failed comeback in Houston against Texans

The New England Patriots seemed to be making a statement to the Houston Texans when they put out their starters in the first quarter, including Rob Gronkowski who hadn’t played since 2012.

The message was simple: Try and guard us.

The two teams are embarking on a budding brotherly rivalry, and will see each other in Week 3 of the regular season and perhaps again in the playoffs. They likely wanted to intimidate the other while not revealing much strategic information.

The Patriots’ first drive wasn’t perfect, and resulted in a punt. Tom Brady and Rex Burkhead helped New England engineer a touchdown drive on the second drive of the game before they retired for the evening. Brady found Burkhead, who’d just broken 2017 first round pick Zach Cunningham’s ankles. Burkhead created enough separation on an angle route in the middle of the field to run untouched into the end zone. He also touched the ball nine times on the team’s first 15 snaps — his tenth touch was the touchdown.

And it shouldn’t come as a surprise that on a night when everyone was excited to see Brandin Cooks, Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski take the field together, Burkhead was the player that stood out.

Cooks was quiet with one reception for seven yards. Gronk was quieter with zero targets. Edelman had two targets for zero receptions. And yet, New England’s offense didn’t seem any worse for wear while using Burkhead as their feature back.

By showcasing Burkhead, the Patriots demonstrated they can excel while using a backup running back as their featured offensive weapon. In other words, NFL, be afraid — very afraid.

The Patriots top defensive unit, however, wasn’t as stellar as the offense. A poor showing from Malcolm Butler helped Tom Savage charge down the field for a touchdown drive, which finished on a 2-yard toss to Jaelen Strong. Butler was in coverage, but finished at Strong’s feet on the play. Butler finished the game allowing Savage to be 5 of 5 for 71 yards and a touchdown when targeting Butler. It wasn’t all bad for New England’s defensive. Lawrence Guy managed a sack on Savage. Patrick Chung and Stephon Gilmore each had pass deflections.

After two series, the top unit’s nights were over. The Patriots didn’t seem keen to give Bill O’Brien’s Texans too close of a look at New England’s best players.

When the Patriots backups got on the field, the inconsistency and erratic play escalated. That’s to be expected for the most part, especially from youngsters like Jacoby Brissett and company. Jimmy Garoppolo, however, was among the many backups who struggled. He had two turnovers — one interception, one fumble — which led to 10 points in favor of the Texans. Garoppolo’s interception came in the fourth quarter, and allowed Houston to score a go-ahead touchdown.

For the second time in two weeks, Brissett managed to lead the Patriots into the red zone in the final moments of the game in search of a comeback win. But for the second time, he failed to get the ball into the end zone. This week, he fumbled the ball forward on a strip sack. The fumbled ball bounced forward and out of the back of the end zone, which meant a touchback and a turnover. The Texans got the ball, and were able to kneel their way to victory.

The Patriots quarterback’s didn’t finish with terrible stat lines. Brady was 6 of 9 with 91 yards and a touchdown. Garoppolo was 15 of 23 for 145 yards, one touchdown, one interception and one fumble. Brissett was 5 of 10 for 36 yards. But Brissett and Garoppolo each left the Patriots wanting more. Garoppolo shouldn’t have been so prone to costly errors. Brissett should have stepped up to deliver a win. Perhaps it’s an unfair standard, but against a vanilla defense, Brady could have led two scoring drives.

And Garoppolo’s displeasure was clear on the field. He clearly asked offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to stay in the game after his interception, which ended up being his final throw of the game. After the loss, Garoppolo spoke to reporters about his fumble, which came on sack where Texans linebacker Tony Washington Jr. went completely unblocked.

“I am the quarterback. That’s just my fault,” Garoppolo told reporters after the game on the WBZ TV broadcast. “They have been great. They whole O-line, whoever it is in there. They mix-and-match a lot and Coach (Dante) Scarnecchia does a great job with them getting them ready. They have done a phenomenal job for us.”

Garoppolo and Brissett will surely get no shortage of snaps in the final two games of preseason when the Patriots will likely lean on the two quarterbacks. Garoppolo, who was itching to return to the field, will have to wait for the Detroit Lions next Friday.